The Racket Doesn't Stop Ivanisevic

Will Meet Korda In Final

A Final Of Unexpected Heights

August 18, 1991|By MICHAEL ARACE; Courant Staff Writer

NEW HAVEN -- Defending Volvo International champion Derrick Rostagno lost in the semifinals 6-4, 7-5 Saturday, done in by the windmilling groundstrokes of Goran Ivanisevic and the reverberating din of a chopper blade.

Funny. Rostagno has always claimed a streak of good luck has followed him around the Connecticut Tennis Center. And yet here he was on the Stadium Court, up a service break and ahead 5-4 in the second set, looking up at a circling helicopter -- a helicopter hired by tournament officials who wanted aerial photographs for promotional purposes.

This was not good luck. The helicopter circled so close, Rostagno probably could have hit it with a thrown tomato, which he may have done had he had a tomato. This copter was loud. And its noise changed the complexion of the match at a critical point.

"I think it was a bad time for a helicopter to land on the court," Rostagno, the ninth seed, said with a smile. That's how close the helicopter sounded. ". . . It was a hindrance for both of us. May the better man win -- and Goran simply handled the situation better than I did."

Although Rostagno accepted his fate without rancor, the copter had a definite impact on his game. Rostagno made two unforced errors in the 10th game, double-faulted twice in the 11th game and lost the 12th and final game at love.

No helicopter was needed to break the concentration of the other semifinalists, No. 11 Petr Korda and No. 16 Marc Rosset. In a match rife with unforced errors, Korda emerged an easy winner, 6-4, 6-3. Korda, who has made it to tournament finals three of the past four weeks -- and lost each time -- will try to right himself against Ivanisevic, the fifth seed. Their championship final of the $1 million tournament has been moved from 1 p.m. to noon because of a forecast of rain.

The winner will receive $137,500, the runner-up $72,380. Volvo week has been colored by a rain delay, an aggressive yellow jacket population and, if the weatherman can be trusted, perhaps a violent summer storm. When the tournament is summarized, however, the

unnatural disturbance may take precedence over the natural.

Rostagno had taken the eighth game of the second set, breaking Ivanisevic for the first time. Rostagno clinched the game by taking a forehand in the air and hitting it down the line for a clean winner. The crowd cheered. Rostagno then held serve at love for a 5-4 lead.

"[Rostagno] is a very strange player, but he's very dangerous," Ivanisevic said. "It's tough to keep your concentration when he's always [charging] in like that."

Near the completion of the ninth game -- just after Rostagno served his eighth ace of the match past Ivanisevic -- the helicopter appeared on the horizon.

"I didn't know what [the helicopter pilot] is doing there," Ivanisevic said. "This is not nice, his going around very low, but I can't take my concentration away ... I was pretty nervous, because I didn't know if he was going to go away or not."

At tennis tournaments, spectators are asked to take their seats quickly -- and to please, please quiet down. Helicopters just don't mesh with this scene. For Rostagno, who overcame some early errors and began to play with daring and panache, the scene turned into "Apocalypse Now".

"I hope I can attribute my concentration lapse to the helicopter," Rostagno said, smiling again. He was only half kidding.

As best he could, Ivanisevic took advantage of Rostagno's lapse. He pounded serves to tie at 5, gladly accepted double faults for a 6-5 lead, then pounded a few more big serves -- including his seventh ace -- at Rostagno to take the match.

"I didn't play so well, but I'm happy because I won," said Ivanisevic, who has lately curbed his on-court outbursts. "At the beginning of this year, maybe I lose this match. At the beginning of this year, I was lost."

Rostagno could be thinking something like, "Those aerial photographs better be good." But he is not. After his sundry press conferences, he remained on the Yale University campus and signed autographs for nearly two hours.

"I can't complain," Rostagno said, "I've had a lot of luck here."

Other than issuing a statement, tournament director Jim Westhall refused to discuss the helicopter matter with the media. The statement said the helicopter was hired "for the purpose of shooting video and still footage of a full Stadium Court with play in progress." The statement also said "photographers ... watched for indication from the players that a disturbance was being created, but none occurred."

Whether that is true or not, one thing is sure -- there won't be any helicopters hovering over the stadium today.

For one thing, the weather could be bad.

If not, the thunder will be supplied by the 6-foot-4 Ivanisevic and the 6-3 Korda. The two lefthanders are big servers with solid, stinging groundstrokes. Ivanisevic is looking for his third career victory while Korda, like Rostagno last year, is in search of his first. Ivanisevic is ranked No. 18 in the world, Korda No. 25.